Recently the World Bank issued a report in which the gap between the rich and the poor of Tehran was compared to other large cities of the world such as Paris and London. The difference was shattering: this gap is far wider in Tehran than in any other major capital of the developed world.

The difference in the costs of living and the quality and quantity of housing between the northern and southern parts of the city are enormous, too large to remain unobserved by the keen eyes of international economic analysts.

The economic policies that are being adopted nowadays, unfortunately, add to the severity of the issue. Although they are directed towards a general economic development, they end up by making the rich, richer
and the poor, poorer. Thus more and more of the middle class is sinking below the poverty line and as the low economy class – those who live below the poverty line – expands, the already small middle class disappears.

Indeed, there is so much poverty and the poor in Iran are under such severe pressure that they have lost all interest in the development and future of their country.

Useless statistics Iranians are used to hearing economic indexes and figures and statistics that herald growth
and development, data that are supposed to put hope into their hearts. But Iranians have become indifferent to them, to say the least. It would not even be an exaggeration to say that they don’t trust the figures any longer, even though most are correct and realistic.

The government and the related bodies are making heavy investments in dams, power plants, refineries, highways, universities… which are bound to eventually bring enormous benefits to the country. But because they do not positively affect the current life of the people, they are ignored.



The masses are concerned about today: what they can afford to eat today, where they can sleep the night; how they can pay for their children’s books, notebooks and pencils… They have by now discovered that those who profit most from development plans are the contractors, the big consulting firms, the large trading houses…
i.e. the rich. They are much more interested in news about subsidies, ration coupons, interest-free loans… which apply to them and from which they benefit. They even support subsidies for petrol although it is the rich who own cars and benefit most from these subsidies.

Development plans The past policies intended to develop the country have not taken into account the country’s
true economic, social and cultural realities. In Iran the terms ‘economic development’, ‘social development’, ‘cultural development’ and ‘I don’t know what development’ are the ‘children’ of the Revolution. It is not quite clear which is the most important development: perhaps even our decision-makers and planners do not have a clear idea about it.

Besides, although these decision and plans are based on western models, they are ineffectively implemented because of complete lack of coordination among the various decisionmaking bodies in economic, social and cultural spheres.

The question is, should development take into account human dignity? Should it account for the significance
of the people’s participation in economic, social, cultural and – in particular – political spheres of life? Should it secure freedom, democracy and equality? Should it offer the people the right opportunities?

Development and human needs If the answers to these questions are all affirmative, then, in Iran, we do not know what the true meaning of development is and this is why our state decision-makers cannot agree whether political development has priority over economic development or vice versa.

The misunderstandings and disagreements end up in our developments being out of line with our needs and with the facts and realities of our country and our community. This is why we have had growth in some sectors but little or no growth in others, resulting in economic, social and cultural chaos.

Social and economic justice The country has so far gone through almost three post- Revolution “socio-economic and cultural development plans” and the fourth is presently being approved by Majlis (parliament).
The three previous plans implemented certain adjustments and structural reforms which have had some favorable effects on the economic, social and political conditions but they have not been successful in bringing
about social and economic justice, particularly with regard to the distribution of wealth.



Wrong policies lead to expansion of liquidity, increasingly rising inflation and unbalanced wealth distribution. Can the Fourth Five-Year Socio-Economic and Cultural Development Plan reduce the gap between the rich
and the poor and secure social and economic justice and equity for all?

It can only do so if it has taken into account people, individuals, as economic entities that have – at the same time – certain needs: social, cultural, economic and political needs. Individuals will not participate in social and political activities unless material and spiritual resources and opportunities are relatively fairly distributed in the society.

A fair distribution of resources will prevent the state from sucking the people’s blood in order to keep alive its own fat body, whereas it should go on a diet and slim down its enormous belly, shed away a lot of its bulk. It must give over to the private sector almost all of the economic activities that it is presently controlling.

We must have a free market economy, true competition among businesses which must be handled by the private sector, we must do away with monopolies, concessions, vested interests… We must provide opportunities for the private sector, create favorable conditions for domestic and foreign investment, control
inflation and maintain the purchasing power of the economically less fortunate classes.